We knew the rain was coming but we were hoping that the mountains that surround Lake Cahuilla would push the clouds away. They didn’t. In fact, the rain started just as we made our way to the starting line.

The Desert Triathlon on Sunday, March 7th would be my first International distance race of the season. I’ve been training for Ironman Arizona (and maybe Ironman St. George) so I’ve been doing longer distance runs and rides but I’m a big believer in racing to get ready to race.

The Desert Triathlon would be a “C” race for me — in other words, not very important for me. Naturally, you want to do well any time you race but you have to have your priorities. This race would just be a test of my fitness and a sharpener for my upcoming “B” race, the California Ironman 70.3.

The old dudes, 40+ would start last at 8:45 a.m. I hate starting last because that just means I have to pass more people on the swim (I’m a good swimmer – not bragging, just sayin’).

The water was quite cold. Don’t know exactly what the temp was but I’m guessing low 60s. I’m not a big fan of cold as evidenced by my IM Arizona performance last November (no puking this time).

The gun went off and I was having a tough time catching my breath so I slowed down a little. After a couple hundred yards I got into a comfortable groove and settled in. Problem is I was alone. The really fast guys were too far out in front and I didn’t want to go any slower so I was on my own.

I passed a number of the slower swimmers from the earlier waves and felt good after rounding the first buoy. The cold water didn’t seem to bother me and the second half of the swim was faster than the first.

When I exited the water I realized how cold I actually was because I couldn’t move my thumbs. The rain and wind picked up. This was going to be fun!

The bike portion of the race went fine. I felt like I was working hard but felt good. The rain picked up and the roads were drenched so I’m not sure how much slower that made me. The bike portion for the International distance is two loops for a total of 24 miles so we were on our bikes a while.

I only saw one guy in my age group pass me and I passed one guy in my age group on the bike but I had no idea how many were ahead of me.

Getting into T-2 I was obviously even colder than before because I couldn’t get my helmet unbuckled. Weird how much we depend on our thumbs! Then, I couldn’t get my shoes tightened so that took a while. No transition PRs today!

While I was quite cold the run felt great. I missed my buddy Larry, Lar-Dog Davidson because he’d beaten me every year here but by a lesser margin each time. Today I would have given him a run for his money (probably still would have lost though).

I got into a groove as my heart rate hovered around 160 (comfortable for me). I passed a ton of people including a 50 year-old guy. I saw Russ Jones after the first lap (he had just won his age group in the sprint race) and he told me he thought I was in first place. That just made me go faster.

While unbelievably cold, it was a great day. I took first place in my age group and managed to turn in the EXACT same time as last year. My swim was slower, my T-1 was slower, my bike was slower, my T-2 was slower but my run was significantly faster.

What a great way to start the season!

Here are some of my friend’s results:

Sprint Distance

Carlos Espinoza 1:06:21 (1st place M35-39)
Russ Jones 1:06:30 (1st place M55-59)
Rich Pfeiffer 1:09:59 (2nd place M55-59)
K.C. Heidler 1:13:11 (4th place M40-44)
Steven Owen 1:14:46 (3rd place M55-59)
Andy Bailey 2:15:44 (5th place M70-74)

International Distance

Chris Davis 2:01:45 (3rd place M35-39)
Scott Calendar 2:02:36 (1st place M45-49)
Ron Saetermoe 2:08:07 (1st place M50-54)
Sam Sunshine 2:13:06 (10th place M45-49)
Sherry Rennard 2:18:10 (3rd place F45-49)
Jeremy Rock 2:21:25 (18th place M45-49)
Mark Chavira 2:24:02 (24th place M40-44)
Pete Rennard 2:24:57 (3rd place M55-59)
Kevin Cowell 2:58:30 (3rd place M15-19 – walked the run course)
Janet Richard 3:08:59 (22nd place F40-44)

Ron Saetermoe

Until a couple weeks ago I’d never heard of the San Dieguito Half Marathon. That’s the problem with living in paradise – there are so many great options.

As you know, I’m into my Ironman training now, and as part of that I love the half marathon race distance. The distance really seems to help build speed and endurance without trashing you for a couple weeks.

San Dieguito is down in Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County just east of Solana Beach. The area is beautiful with lots of trees and hills. Seven of us carpooled down there, which was fun in itself. Since we had a woman on board we were all on our best behavior (no farting!).

The weather was perfect and San Dieguito Park was beautiful. Truly a great place for a picnic if you’re looking to get away.

The race starts down the hill from San Dieguito Park and winds through the streets of Rancho Santa Fe, over the aforementioned hills. Hills at times that didn’t seem to have an end!

Scott (Scooter) Callender and Larry (Lar Dog) Davidson set the pace for our group. I started to run with Gary Clendenin but couldn’t hang with him.

At about mile two I saw Lar Dog off on the left side of the road working on his foot. He had a sharp pain in the top of his foot that forced him to stop. After about a minute he’d fixed the problem and promptly blew by me.
Shortly after that I passed Gary at one of the aid stations. I didn’t look back but thought he was just behind me. It wasn’t until later that I saw he’d dropped back a bit.

Since I loaded my legs from a 50+ mile bike ride the day before with Stu Lowndes into Huntington Beach I was hurting the entire way (RPE 10). There were opposing forces at work. My legs ached so they didn’t want to go fast but my heart rate was also up because I’d trashed myself the day before. Either way there wouldn’t be a PR in it for me today.

Everyone had a great time but Scooter absolutely killed this really tough course!

Scott Callender: 1:30:58 (6:57)
Larry Davidson: 1:33:55 (7:10)
Ron Saetermoe: 1:37:23 (7:26)
Kari Krause: 1:37:28 (7:27)
Gary Clendenin: 1:38:24 (7:31)
Sara Gilles: 1:39:43 (7:37)
Pete Kobrak: 1:41:42 (7:46)
Other notable racers:
Kate Major: 1:20:24 (6:08)
Michellie Jones: 1:22:18 (6:17)
Joanna Zeiger: 1:22:42 (6:19)

Early season racing is always tough. You’ve probably been overeating and under-training for at least a month. That’s exactly where I was when I did the 2010 SoCal Half Marathon on Sunday, January 9th.

I’m one of those people that like to reward myself when I work especially hard. And since I worked my tail off in preparation for IMAZ I’ve been rewarding myself ever since. As a result I’ve gained six pounds. I’m not beating myself up about it, I’m just saying.

Actually, I have been working out. As of race day I had just finished the first four weeks of my 2010 IM training plan and hadn’t tapered for the ½ marathon. I did beat myself up pretty bad the week before and included resistance training and a couple of awesome CompuTrainer sessions (you know the ones where your legs are shaking when you get off your bike).

And while I had no reason to expect a PR (personal record) was in the cards for me, I decided to go hard anyway. Besides, Scott (Scooter) Calendar was going to shoot for 1:30:00 so I figured I’d run with him at his Garmin defined 6:52 mile pace until I blew up.

The race was great with a lot of friends there. The guy I really had to keep my eye on though was Stan Gertler. Stan is older than me but runs like a rabbit. And as it happened, Stan was staged just in front of me and Scooter.
The gun went off and Stan took off. Scott wanted to log the first mile a bit slower than our target rate to ease into a good pace. The first mile was 7:05, just exactly as Scott prescribed.

We started to pick up after that and we nailed a 6:50 pace for the next several miles, still on Stan’s heels. It was getting hard. My breath was labored and my legs were burning but I was going to hang on for all it was worth.
At about mile six I determined I couldn’t hang with Scott any more so I let him go. We waved at each other multiple times throughout the race. While I didn’t actually “blow up” my pace had slowed considerably, but it was “comfortable.” As comfortable as one can be with labored breathing and legs that are on fire!

The miles click by amazingly fast when you quiet your mind. I know Mark Allen really believes in this and I’m not sure if I’m doing it in the prescribed method but I get into a near trance after a while and time goes very quickly.
I hit every water stop other than the first one. This is a little bit of strategy I use. Generally, a lot of racers go out at a pace faster than they can hold so the first aid station, in particular, gets clogged up (I use this same strategy in century rides and SAG stops). After that I take water at every aid station.

No, I don’t drink Gatorade or take gels. I do take gels with me as insurance but I didn’t use any today. The reason is that many people tend to take in more calories than they need while racing. We were taught at our USAT training that the average male has about 3,000 calories in glycogen stores and women have about 2,000. If that were the case, I wouldn’t come close to burning that number of calories so water should be just fine.

Turns out, water was just fine and I managed to maintain a good pace for the entire race. 1:31:43 (7:00) a PR. Think I didn’t celebrate after that? Beer!

Next up, the Palm Springs century ride on Saturday February 13th followed by the San Diego half marathon on Sunday, February 14th. You game?

It was nice to have Jarrett accompany me this year to Arizona. We had the chance to talk triathlon until we were blue in the face and get to know each other a little better.

Friday was very busy with driving out to Tempe, checking into the race, athlete dinner and athlete’s meeting. I felt like I had already completed my Ironman.

Saturday started early with breakfast at the Doubletree hotel. They really did a nice job. I’ll probably go back again next year.

Over breakfast I debated, then subsequently talked myself out of, swimming in Tempe Town Lake at 7:00 a.m. I knew the water was cold, and dirty, and didn’t feel the need to validate either. A nice 20-minute swim in the 80-degree hotel pool was just what I needed.

After my swim I did the most insane thing a triathlete can do – I registered for Ironman Arizona – OVER A FULL YEAR BEFORE THE RACE!!! I hadn’t even completed this one and I paid for the next one! What lunacy! And how in the heck do they collect $550.00 from 2,400 people a year in advance? I want that gig! (BTW, they’re sold out for 2010!)

After that I put Russ Jones’ speedy Zipp race wheels on and tested out the bike. Edge Cyclesports had it dialed in perfectly.

Then on to drop off my swim-to-bike and bike-to-run transition bags. Everything was going perfectly.

Back to the hotel for a little nap and dinner later with Jarrett and Scott Neubauer of Coastal Health and Fitness, an Active Release practitioner. Carbo loaded and ready for a good nights sleep.

I did sleep well for the night before an Ironman. I guess I got about six hours, which is about six hours more than I’d previously gotten. Had my breakfast of cottage cheese, walnuts and blueberries, English muffin and OJ and I was ready to rock!

We got down to the race site about 5:00 a.m. and I did all the prerace stuff including putting air in my tires and numerous potty breaks.

It was funny that my bike was racked directly between Kim McDonald and Brian Smallwood. Both raced the sprint worlds in Australia. Kim won his age group (55 – 59). Kim is known for his short-course prowess but punched his ticket to Kona back in 2008. Amazing guy.

Brian is in my age group (50 – 54) and has gone to Kona a couple times. A strong swimmer and cyclist, Larry Davidson always seems to beat him on the run. This year he would be my key competition.

At 6:40 a.m. they let the age-groupers down on to the dock and into the water. The pros were already in the water and were scheduled to start at 6:50. The water was cold . . . about 52 – 53 degrees. Unlike Ironman Coeur d’Alene where the water was about the same temperature, IMAZ is a water start, not a shore start, which means we were in the cold water doing nothing for 20 minutes. By the time we started I was practically convulsing because I was so cold.

The cannon went off and my legs immediately froze up. First, intense pain, then hyperventilating, then puking. I never expected this and felt bad for the swimmers behind me (for various reasons). If I could have gotten out of their way and to shore I probably would have quit. How can I swim if I can’t breathe?

Somehow I managed to push through it and swam really easy and eventually picked up the pace. Very frustrating to say the least.

The transition to the bike was SLOW! It didn’t feel as slow as it was. Perhaps it was because things slow down when you’re frozen!

Once I got on the bike I started to thaw. I went hard on the bike knowing that it might impact my run but I wanted to leave it all on the course so I pushed hard. I thought I’d be able to go 5:30, which was about 20.4 MPH. If it wasn’t for the wind I probably could have made it.

It didn’t seem like there was as much drafting as last year but it was still going on. There are a couple narrow spots on the course where it’s tough not to draft but those stretches aren’t too long.

The transition to the run was smooth and faster than last year. My legs were tired but I felt ready to run. This was very different than my two Ironman’s last year. At IMCDA I didn’t have the muscular endurance and at IMAZ I didn’t have the nutrition dialed in. I could tell it was going to be a better day for me.

My splits on the website show my speed ranging from 8:56 to 12:18 per mile. I don’t think those speeds are accurate but so be it. I did start out strong on the run and tried to hold an 8:30 pace, which I did for a while but then slowed quite a bit. From then on it was run and walk through the aid stations. Sometimes I ran through but I did have to walk a couple times.

Somewhere around 20 miles I saw Jarrett with the video camera. Boy, you really don’t want to be video taped when you feel the way I did. He walked with me for a while and asked if he thought I could go 11:30 if I started running again. I figured 11:00 minute miles, so yes.

At that point I felt rejuvenated and started to run; not fast, but it was definitely a run. I ran the rest of the last loop and brought it in strong.

Coming into the finishing chute was a runner up ahead. I wanted to give him his space so he could get the good finish line photo so I slowed down only to have him catch his foot on the loose carpet and take a nosedive. Turns out it was Brian Smallwood, Larry’s nemesis. I asked him if he was okay as he got up and finished the race. I finished one second behind him!

It was a great day for me out there. Nothing goes perfectly, as you can see, but I was thrilled to have beaten my time from last year by over an hour.

Ron Saetermoe

The Orange County Triathlon in 2008 was my first ever triathlon, so I was excited to see how I have improved over the last year. This would be my first time ever repeating a race in my young triathlon career. My training was anything but consistent over the last year, but I was confident that I had improved a little in fitness and a lot in knowledge, pacing, and race strategy, not to mention the quality of equipment I was using. Last year I rode the course on an old Fuji road bike with running shoes and no foot straps.

A few months out from the race on September 27th, I decided to dedicate my training and make this my “A” race and last one of the season. For a month, I was doing very well, then we started getting busier here at Triathica (definitely a good problem to have) and I had less and less time to train. About a month out from the race my training routine fell apart and I really only trained here and there when I could. I was still pumped for the race and excited for all the Triathica members who would be racing that weekend for the first time.

The night before the race I actually felt the best I ever had. My expectations were not high for the race so I was able to relax and have fun the next day. I got the best sleep I ever have before a race.

For breakfast I powered down a few snickers marathon bars that I got the day before at the expo. Those things are great! They literally taste like candy bars. I loaded all my stuff up in a borrowed truck (can’t really fit a bike in my Miata) and headed over to the race. Got to transition a little early and found a pretty good spot in transition. I brought my wetsuit just in case, but I thought it would be too warm to wear it. This turned out to be correct.

I walked around transition a bit and chatted with a few Triathica members I found. I felt really relaxed which is weird for me. I’m always pretty jacked up on race morning. One thing I was worried about was my goggle situation. I have a pair of dark and clear goggles. Clear goggles were the obvious choice for an early race start, but they got a little warped and I was worried about leakage. I brought both pairs down to the water and tested the clear ones. They seemed to hold up fine so I went back to my T1 area and put away my dark goggles. Probably something I should have tested days ago, live and learn.

It was very different not being the first wave since I’m usually in with the pros and the 29 and unders who normally start first. This time I was in the fifth wave, which was cool since I actually got to watch other people start.

I’m usually cautious on the swim start and try to stay away from the congestion. I’m gaining confidence in my swim so I decided to just go for it. When the horn blew I sprinted out in front and did a few dolphins. I was in front for probably the first minute of the swim until I settled into a good pace. I started to see people pass me, but I just stayed on my pace and tried to follow some feet.

After a while I started drifting to the right towards the course markers. Once I got right up next to them I adjusted and just used them to sight with until I hit the big buoy out in the middle of the lake. The rest of the swim went pretty smooth and after I rounded the first buoy, I started passing people in caps that were a wave or two ahead of me. Once I rounded the last buoy, I started seeing caps from the 2nd wave. I was sure I had a pretty good swim.

The bike portion went pretty well for me. I’ve had a problem in the past riding at too low a cadence and hammering too hard, wearing my legs out very quickly. This race I was concentrating on keeping my cadence high and spinning up the hills instead of hammering. I passed a lot of people on the bike and didn’t get passed all that much. There were a few guys I was going back and forth with almost the whole course. Guy in the pink jersey, you know who you are.

When I was nearing T2, I started getting ready to dismount and tried to move a Gu packet from my shorts to the back pocket in my tri top. Instead or reaching back and slipping it in the pocket, I slipped it under my race belt and it fell, skidding along the ground behind me. I didn’t panic because I felt pretty good and had downed a bottle full of Gatorade on the bike. The Gu was just for emergencies anyways.

I got off the bike feeling the best I’ve ever felt for the run. The first mile or two I felt really good. I held back a little because I knew what lay ahead. Even though I held back, once I hit those hills, I fell apart. I started getting these sharp pains in my lower quads and left hamstring. I had to walk/run up the steep hills and even walking was painful. I had no idea what was going on, but I kept thinking about my Gu packet sitting on the bike course by transition. It could have been a nutrition problem, but my body felt good, just my legs were killing me.

I struggled up Vista del Lago and once I got the top, my legs had had enough. My lower quads were searing and I felt like I needed to stretch them out. I lifted my left ankle up so I could grab it and stretch the quad. BAM! My hamstring tightened and I promptly fell to the ground, rubbing the grapefruit size ball on the back of my leg and trying to stretch it out. After a few minutes of rubbing and stretching I was able to straighten my leg. It sucks to watch people pass you, as you lay helpless on the ground. I think one or two people asked if I was OK, but everyone else was distracted with their own pain.

When I got up, I felt a little better as I started hobbling along. It still felt like I was going to cramp any minute, but it wasn’t as painful. I started to pick up speed and passed a lot of people that had passed me. One guy I ran past offered me some extra drink he had in his race belt. I thanked him and guzzled down a bottle in about two seconds. I’m not sure it helped, but it gave me the mental boost I needed.

I continued on and started to pick up speed on the downhills when I started having pain again. It was weird because the pain was only below my shorts, so I started moving them around a bit. It worked and the pain subsided temporarily. I came to the conclusion that my strategy of wearing double layers for the extra compression actually was cutting off circulation in my leg. I was almost done with the race so I just powered through it for the last mile.

The fact that the last half-mile of the course was all downhill made my day. I just cruised to the finish line and from my watch it looked like I beat my time last year by about 15 minutes.

I stuffed my face full of nutrition, got a sweet massage, and talked to bunch of other people about their race. I hated when people asked how my race went, I didn’t like explaining I was an idiot and died on the run, which could have been prevented. Oh well, I still had fun and there is always next year.
I ended up getting 18th in the 25-29 age group and finished in 2:33:13. I beat my time last year by about 15 minutes and lost a ton of time to cramps. Needless to say, I was very happy with my performance considering. Now it’s time to dedicate my training this off-season and come back with a vengeance next year.

My “A” race this year is Ironman Arizona on Sunday, November 22nd so I really wasn’t planning on beating myself up too much before then, but my good friend Larry (Lar Dog) Davidson talked me into competing in the inaugural Magic Mountain Man ½ Iron distance on Saturday, October 10th.

Since I’d be doing a long workout anyway for my Ironman training, the thought was “Hey, why not compete instead?” So I did.

First, let me say that Jonathan Pauley and Anneka Sakovich and the rest of the gang at Renegade Racing did an amazing job organizing this race. Jonathan, a great race organizer and quite an accomplished triathlete himself, knows how to put on a great show.

There were approximately 300 athletes competing, which is quite good for an inaugural race . . . especially one that was advertised as perhaps the toughest bike course for any ½ Ironman. That fact alone gave me pause.

It was great to have some friends sharing in my agony on Saturday. Gary Clendenin, Rene Rodarte (Triathica member) and Al Gaspari (Triathica coach) were all there, and incidentally, had great races as well.

The weather was near perfect. The skies were clear and the temperature quite comfortable all day, in the 70s. We did encounter a bit of wind on the bike course but nothing too drastic.

The swim was in the Castaic Lagoon and the water was a perfect 70 degrees. The water was calm as the sun came up just 15 minutes before race start.

The race was a “mass start” which simply means that all 300 athletes started at the same time. Since I’ve done a couple of Ironman races where there were over 2,000 athletes starting at the same time, this was cake.

I got off to a good start (I’m a swimmer first) in the 1.2-mile swim and headed directly for the triangle yellow buoy. A number of other athletes aimed for the round orange buoys but the line was more direct going straight for the triangle one. I saved a bit of time but didn’t have the benefit of having anyone to draft off of. However, once I turned the buoy I had company. A welcome sight, actually, because now I would be able to catch a draft.

For those of you that don’t know, drafting on the swim is quite legal. Drafting on the bike? Not so much.

Anyway, I was able to draft most of the way to the next triangle buoy but was on my own again on the way in. I felt like I was going quite fast and didn’t see too many athletes ahead of me. Ultimately, I finished 11th overall on the swim.

I exited the water feeling great, but apprehensive about the bike course. Al and I drove the course on Friday and had a good idea what we were in for, but riding the course on your triathlon bike is quite different than driving it in the comfort of Al’s Honda.

My 1st transition was quite slow which is a dramatic departure from my transition times in shorter races. This race was more of a “catered workout” and dress rehearsal for IMAZ so I executed my transitions as if I were doing an Ironman.

I’m starting the bike leg now and have the next 7.2 miles and 1,700 feet of climbing to look forward to. Al thought it would take about 45 minutes just to complete the first 7.2 miles and he was about right.

The downhill portions of the race were fast! According to Ergomo (my bike computer) I hit a top speed of 42.5 miles per hour. That’s flying. Because some of the downhills were so steep there were signs on the course reminding you that riding in your aerobars was not permitted. Again, a nice touch by the Renegade Racing guys.
The bike was two loops on some pretty rough roads. Some stretches had both potholes and ruts. You could dodge these quite easily on the uphill portions but the downhill portions were much more difficult.

As you know, most triathlons require you to be body marked prior to the race, with your age on your calf. As usual, I had a number of riders in my age group (M50-54) pass me on the bike as evidenced by their temporary calf tattoos. While my cycling has improved markedly over the past several years, it is still my overall weakness.
Anyway, I pressed on and wondered if I’d have any legs left to complete the 13.1-mile run. I have to say, I’ve never been happier to be off my bike. 54 miles (a little short of the traditional 56) and nearly 6,000 feet of climbing. Average cadence: 89. Average watts 186. Average speed 15.9 miles per hour.

Again, I took my time in transition and headed out on the run. At least the run would be fairly flat. The run course was out and back which I love because you can see all of the other athletes in front of you and behind you.

I knew Al and Gary were in front of me on the run. Both looked very strong.
About three miles into the run I encountered the first finisher, Kirk Nelson coming the other way. That is one fast dude! Shortly after that I passed Gary. Gary is in the M55-59 age group and is an excellent athlete. I don’t know Gary that well and as I passed him I asked him how old he was because I couldn’t tell because he had his compression socks on which covered his age. He told me he was 58 so I knew I wouldn’t have to compete against him. Good thing, too!

I felt better than expected on the run but my heart rate was running higher than I would have liked (about 170). Since I felt okay, I pressed on.

I passed a couple of guys in my age group on the run but had no idea what place I was in. I saw Al coming the other way at about mile six. He still looked strong and happy.
At about mile eight I decided to pull back a bit and try to get my heart rate down around 160 or so. As I did Gary passed me. “You go Gary!” I naturally let him go since we weren’t in the same age group. If he had been in my age group I certainly would have challenged.

At about mile 12 another guy in the M55-59 age group passed me. He was moving and had Gary in his sights. He challenged but Gary won the sprint to the finish coming in 1st. Way to go Gary!

For me, I kept looking over my shoulder to see if anyone would challenge me. No one did so I coasted to the finish. 5:52:01. Good enough for 1st! Way to go Ron!
The guys I passed on the run came by to congratulate me after the race. That’s one of the things I love about this sport – a lot of classy people.

Swim: 31:29 (11/199 = 5.5% overall)T1: 4:30 (112/199 = 56.3%) Told you I was slow!
Bike: 3:22:43 (60/199 = 30.1% overall) 15.9 MPH average
T2: 2:00 (84/199 = 42.2%) See what I mean?
Run: 1:51:17 (42/199 = 21.1%) 8.29 mile pace
Overall: 5:52:01 (33/199 = 16.6%)
Place: 1/12 (8.3%)

Al: 5:44:27; 7/36 (19.4%)
Gary: 5:48:26; 1/12 (8.3%)
Rene: 6:42:29; 6/12 (50.0%)

Ron Saetermoe

This “race” report is coming to you later than I had planned. I had no clue that recovery would take as long as it did.

A little over a week ago, my husband and I found ourselves at the start line for the Tour de Palm Springs. We have never been to Palm Springs, and we have never participated in a ride of this sort. So, of course, we knew we had to give it a try despite the fact that his longest ride had been 30 miles recently and my longest was 55. But that didn’t matter. We had convinced ourselves this was not a race. We were going to have a good time!

The weather was absolutely perfect that day. There was some wind but it wasn’t bad at all. The sight of all the people and bikes at the start line was amazing. It was a first for me so I wanted to absorb all the energy to help me get through my first 100-mile ride.

I felt the first leg of the ride dragged on. I couldn’t believe how much time it took to get to the first SAG stop. There were a lot of people to navigate around before we settled at our pace. It took some time for me to warm up as well.

The climb was gradual but I could feel myself working hard. My goal was to go hard for the first half of the ride. I had not planned on stopping until after 50 miles. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to get through the first SAG stop without dismounting. The crowd was huge and there was no room to ride through.

Just a short stop and off we went. The second leg went by quickly. The downhill was great. We did see a rider taken away by ambulance so that was a reality check to stay alert. At this point, we had settled in with a larger group. I have never ridden in a pack so this was a little nerve wracking for me. I have been spoiled with all the trail rides in Orange County and the closed bike routes during the triathlon races. But, with 100 miles to practice, I eventually became comfortable!

Before I knew it, we passed the third SAG stop. I was doing well until about mile 35. I was feeling pretty tired at this point and decided to draft behind my husband. I still had more than half the ride to complete so I had to play it safe. After about 5 miles, I felt better and took the lead. Before I knew it, we were at the half way point. It couldn’t have come sooner. The road was getting rough right before the stop. Lunch was a nice spread of different sandwiches, Chex Mix, M&Ms. We ate very little despite the vast array of choices we had. I just didn’t know how my body would react to real food during a ride. I stuck with my Clif Bloks and Perpetuem, which worked out fine.

The last 50 miles flew by. I was enjoying the scenery and getter bolder on the road while my husband looked for excuses to get off the bike and rest. We stopped once so he could offer his bike pump to someone in need (there were a lot of flat tires on this course). After that little rest and a lot of chit chat, he got his second wind, and we were off. We got lost briefly following a group. We had just mentioned how lucky we were to be following people who knew where they were going. Once we were back on track, we decided we should glance at the map so we had a clue where to go. Up to that point, we weren’t really worried about the directions.

At last, we found ourselves heading for the finish line. We had exchange leads the entire way with many groups. In the end, a huge crowd of us seem to cross the finish together. It was very thrilling to accomplish a century for the first time! The energy of the crowd was amazing throughout the whole ride. I did not feel exhausted at all after the ride. In fact, I felt motivated to attempt another long ride in the near future. My body, however, told me I needed to give it some time to rest. And so I did for about a week!

LY LY TA

My name is Julia Juliusson, and I am at the end of my third year of competition in Triathlon. I compete in age group 40-44 for women. I am now 44 yrs old and have the pleasure of competing against all the young ones in my age group.

This year has been the greatest year of competition in my life, which resulted in the national title for my age group in sprint triathlon and then the bronze medal in my age group at Worlds in Brisbane, Australia. All this after missing 6 months of competition in 2008 because I tore my right achilles tendon in half and had surgery to repair it. My experience at Worlds made all the hard work of coming back from that injury so incredibly worthwhile. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

I arrived in Brisbane on Monday Sept 7th after a 14-hour flight to Sydney where I had a short layover that my bike seemed to miss. I got delayed for hours in Sydney waiting for my bike. I arrived around 12:30 local time in Brisbane that Monday to be picked up by another athlete from Wisconsin (Heidi) who I was going to room with. She had arrived two days earlier and had managed to rip off the left hand side of our rental car. Apparently learning how to drive on the opposite side of the road in Austrailia is harder than it seems. We laughed and I told her I had no interest in driving the whole time we were there, or we would all surely die.

Everything is in reverse in Aussie land, including swimming laps in pools where you swim up the left lane and back down the right. We were given stern warnings by race officials that passing people on our bikes MUST be done on the right, or we would be disqualified. This ended up being tough to follow in the heat of the actual race!

We picked up two other athletes also rooming with us. Russ Jones from California and Jason Peterson from Ohio. We proceeded straight to the hotel to drop off our gear and went grocery shopping. All athletes care about is food right? The bad news was that food is really expensive in AUS. We bought breakfast food and snacks and some alcohol (not a lot), which cost close to $400. Wow, what an eye opener.

Later, we assembled our bikes and tried to stay up as long as we could and passed out early Monday night to try and change time zones.

Tuesday was all about checking out the course on our bikes and checking out the swim in the local bay. By the way, we were now in surfer’s paradise, about an hour from Brisbane on the coast. The race venue was about two miles from our hotel along the Gold Coast Highway, much like PCH here. The swim was in a protected bay/marina area so no waves to deal with, just a slight current. What we did have to deal with were sharks!

We went to the swim venue on Tuesday and ran into a race official who told us to be careful and not to swim at dusk because the area is known for Bull sharks. Bull sharks that eat people! Just two days ago they had seen two sharks swimming in the same area as the swim venue. It was only 9:00 a.m. so we took our chances and swam the course, biked the course and ran part of the course. We then went to play around in Surfer’s Paradise and went back to our food and spirits!!

Wednesday was the ITU Aquathon World Championships. Ironically, no one had to qualify for this race. They invited every triathlete to race it to preview the swim and warm up for our race. Naturally, we all signed up.

The Aquathon was a 1.6-mile run followed by a 1000-meter swim followed by a 1.6-mile run. I had never done a race this way with the 5K split like that, so that was interesting. It’s different to run into the water with your HR so elevated. I managed to run a 6:45 pace first run leg then got in the water for a 17 minute swim (the course was long) then ran a 7:00 pace for the last half. I managed to place 9th in my age-group; not bad for a warm-up race. Only problem was that it was freezing. They called it a non-wetsuit swim. The water was probably 65-67 deg F; it was very nippy.

Thursday was the only non-race duty day. Just R & R. We took an hour drive south to Byron Bay, an old hippy beach town that many people in the states who had been to Australia told me about. They said it was a “can’t miss” place to go. It was truly a beautiful beach with great cafes and shops. We drank, ate, laid on the beach, and enjoyed each other’s company.

Friday, we could tell the race jitters were beginning to set in. I had to go to packet pick up. I had to do short intensive burst workouts in all three disciplines. I needed to make final tweaks to our bikes. I tried to relax, but everyone felt a little nervous.

Saturday was all about going to the race venue to watch the Olympic distance races and see how many people were drafting. We had been told ITU officials were very lax when it came to drafting. The course was narrow, flat and fast, perfect drafting conditions. We saw many men drafting. Mostly the women were honest and there was not much drafting!

Team USA met on Saturday. USAT officials told us not to draft and only to pass on the right. Then we had bike check-in for the night, which I love! I hate to deal with the bike in the morning. It’s so nice to get to transition and have it all good to go! Next, it was time for a great meal. FYI, if you go to AUS, the meals out are just as expensive as the store. It was like $40-$50 for an entree. After dinner it was early to bed.

RACE DAY: Up at 4 am and I am feeling good. Still, it’s very hard to stuff down the oatmeal. Walked out the door at 4:45 a.m. and drove to the race venue. I got in the transition by 5:15 a.m., set up my gear, then went for a 15-min run. Next I went down to the water, swam for 15 min (longer than usual for me), then realized they were starting the waves. I ran to my place in the chute. The race started at 6:45 a.m. local time and my wave went off at 6:55 a.m. It was the first race that I had where they sent all the women first.

I lined up on the shore, the horn went off, and I ran forward into the water only to step into a pot hole and completely fall. I could do nothing but start swimming when normally I would have dolphined two or three more times. It was not a great start and it was a full contact sport after that. I got elbowed and kicked many times. I paced it to the first buoy then turned right and started to pick up my pace.

I caught the lead group of ten swimmers. I drafted for the rest of the race and thought wow that was not so bad. Then I stood up from the 750 K swim and looked at my watch, which said 14 minutes, and I could only curse! Turns out the lead pack went slow!! The fastest gal went 13:30 or so and I came out 9th in the pack at 14th. I should have passed these gals instead of taking the easy way and just drafting. On the bright side, I was not tired so I hammered the bike!

I had the fastest bike split in my age group. In fact, I passed everyone on the bike. I was in first place coming into T2. Then, by mistake, I ran down the wrong aisle! I had to turn back which cost me a good 20 seconds. On the run, I got passed (with conviction) by an Aussie who must have been going sub 6:30 pace. She blew by me so fast I did not even try to match pace. Then, in the middle of the run, I got passed by a Kiwi who I stayed with for a while, but eventually lost her. Turns out, I was running a 6:50 pace which, after Achilles reconstruction, was awesome for me. I simply could not hang on to these gals. I finished with a good kick at one hour eleven minutes, just 20 seconds shy of second place. First place beat us both by two minutes; she deserved her gold.

I became a bronze medalist in the 2009 World Games and I cried. Never in my wildest dreams, after surgery last year, did I think I would come this far. I have my cycling coaches and run coaches to thank. I am very blessed indeed.

In 2010 the Worlds will be held in Budapest Hungary. Never say never.

As I’ve written before, I really enjoy doing the same races year after year. Some may get bored with that but I like it so I can see if I’ve improved over the years. Generally, I have.

I’m in the throes of training for Ironman Arizona now so I can’t afford to miss any of my regularly scheduled training so the day before Long Beach I did my normal bike/run brick. Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting much on Sunday.

It was a beautiful day and the water in the Long Beach bay was a brilliant red (LB is a great race for the non-swimmer because it’s calm – it also collects a lot of gunk).

I got out quickly and only saw a couple guys ahead of me in my wave. I settled into a nice quick pace and found a guy to my right swimming the same speed as me. The funny thing was that I only breathe to my right, and he only seemed to breathe to his left. As a result, we looked at each other for most of the swim.

I got out of the water feeling fresh and found two other guys in my age group only a step or two ahead of me. The run through the sand seemed to take forever but I was quick through transition and beat the other two guys out.

I never did see the one guy again until after the race but this 52-year-old dude (I’m in the M50-54 AG) passed me going up the first hill on the bike. I easily caught him going down the hill and stayed ahead of him on the flats, but he was gunning for me.

He passed me going up another small hill but I kept him in my sights. This time when I passed him I said as I went by “You really didn’t think you dropped me did you?” His reply was “You f***er!” in a joking tone.

We passed each other several more times through the bike section and he just beat me into transition slightly. I beat him out of transition, however, and headed out for the flat, fast run.

It wasn’t long before he passed me . . . probably ½ mile into the run. I contemplated trying to go with him but he was just too fast and my legs weren’t fresh. I saw him at the turnaround and waved the “shaka” wishing him good luck.

That’s how we finished, he took first, and I took second with a time of 1:04:51, my fastest time at LB by about four minutes!

I collected my silver medal, signed some autographs and went home for a power nap.

By the way, Triathica also had several athletes competing. Mauro, David, Byron, Joe and Janet all raced for the first time at L.B. and all did great! I’m proud of you all!

Chris McCormack (Macca) raced as well. He did okay!

Ron Saetermoe

When I arrived in Australia I was in a state of total disarray. I didn’t know exactly where I was staying, where the heck I was and how I was going to get to the race. I had made a bunch of quasi-plans but nothing very specific, that’s just the kind of traveler I am. When I got the airport, I decided to check my email to see if one of my contacts had emailed me. Yes, my Australian contact Jess was planning on picking me up at the train station in Nerang. I had to figure out how to get on a train and find a girl I have never met before. Everything worked out to say the least.

I ended up staying with a bunch of Surf Rescue athletes from Australia who live on the Gold Coast primarily to train for Surf Rescue competitions. It was great. They were in bed by 8:00 p.m. and up by 5:00 a.m. which was a perfect schedule for me. I decided to go to swim workouts with them where I swam in a swim group with Emma Snowsill, Olympic Champion! No, I couldn’t keep up, but that’s beside the point. It was awesome!

As it came closer to race day, I wasn’t even nervous, I don’t know what it was, but I was just really excited. With my disappointing finish at Nationals, I had a small lack of confidence and did not to expect to finish well. Then something changed, a fire started to burn in my stomach and I got really pumped up. The day before the race I decided I was going to have the race of my life. I wanted to push myself so hard that I would want to collapse after the finish, which is hard to do on such a short distance. My goal that I set was being the first American in my age group.

Race morning came quickly. As always, it was easy to wake up because I really don’t sleep before big races anyway. I pretty much just lay there staring at the ceiling. I had my peanut butter banana honey toast, put on my red and blue Team USA tri-suit and hitched a ride to the venue.

The transition area was huge. We had to rack our bikes the night before so there wasn’t much for me to worry about. I was light and cheery in the morning, cracking jokes, pumping my competitors tires for them because they couldn’t figure out how to do it (weird). I got my wetsuit on and I was ready to go.

I got on the start line with my competition, put a little spit in my goggles and started fooling with my watch to get it to go. Bang! There went the gun. Oops, wasn’t quite ready. I sprinted into the water, dolphined a couple times, and I was off swimming. I have never felt a real draft in the swim until now. I got right on the toes of a girl in front of me and drafted the entire swim, coming out of the swim I felt fresh. I had no idea where I was at this point getting out of the water into transition, later I found out I was in 26th position.

The run to transition was relatively long; I did some passing on the way, got to my bike and was out of transition onto my bike in record time. During the bike all I was doing was passing; I was passing girls my age, younger girls, then all of a sudden I was passing boys. I looked down at my Garmin and I realized I was going 24-25 miles per hour, without a disk wheel. I was hauling. Not one person passed me on the bike. After the bike I was in 14th position. I passed 12 girls in my age group during the bike.

I had another quick transition and made sure to grab my Garmin watch for the first time when I raced. I wanted to keep track of how fast I was running. I wanted to always keep my pace under 6:45 minute miles. During the run I played fishing games. I would pick someone out in front of me and just reel them in, keeping my pace around a 6:30 minute mile and watching my distance to see how far along I was. Once I hit around 800 yards left I started sprinting, passing people left and right. Since it was an up and back course I could tell that I was the first American. One of our USA coaches handed me a flag and I got to finish with the US flag in hand. I had never felt so good; I had goose bumps, as I was finishing. With the crowd cheering and the music blaring, it was exactly what I had imaged when I was dreaming of it.

I got 10th place overall and 1st American! For the first time EVER I felt like I was going to lose my breakfast at the finish line. It felt good to push it that hard and I think that it was the first time I felt so proud of myself after a race this year. So my Australia trip was a success. Thank you so much to everyone that helped and donated to help me get to Australia!

Sara Davis